Regenerative glass furnace



W. WESTBURY REGENRATIVE GLASS FURNACE Nov. 23,1926. l 1,608,150

Nov. 23 192,6,k y Leosso W. WESTBLJRY REGENERATLVE GLASS FURNCEP Filed Dec. ,27, 1922 i 2:I sheetsshen a mkg iQ" (l,

awning n GF EIDEENDENCE, KANSAS.

REG-EHEETEVE GLASS FURNACE.

Application filed December 27, 1922.

rlhis invention relates to glass melting tanks or furnaces of the regenerative type, in which, as commonly constructed, series of flues, each containing a lini'rner, are provided at each side of the furnace, these series of flues at each side cominunicating` through checker chambers with a tunnel, which tunnels connect at their rear ends through a valve chamber with a discharge stats. This valve chamber' is provided rwith an t 'r inlet and contains a socalled huttenilly valve movable to two different positions so as to connect and the other tunnel With the air inlet, or vice versa. this means the burners in the lines at one side of the furnace may be set into operation, and connected With the air inlet and disconnected from the stack, for furnis ring flames to sweep across the melting chamber toward the opposite set of fines, which Will serve as outlets 'for the products of combustion and will be connected with the stack for the discharge of suchy products therethrough. rlhis operation is reversed at regular periods, commonly every twenty minutes, the burners and rc- `generators at each side being alternately employed as furnace heaters and discharge devices, respectively, for the products of con'ibustion. ln the discharge 'of the products of combustion on the exhaust side, the checkers of the regenerators at such side are heated to keep the flues at a desired high temperature, as ivell as air passing to the fines, for adminture with the fuel gas, When the heating action is reversed and said regenerators become a part of the agencies at the heating side. Ordinarily a valve provided for eacliflne burner, for individually regulating the supply ofgas thereto, but reliance is placed upon the single butterfly valve referred to as a means for controlling the flow of air to the Working burners.

Furnaces of this type are open to serious working objections. ln the first place, it is necessary to adjust the valves of the burners .from time to time, to vary the amount of fuel supplied thereto and the spread and intensity of the flames supplied thereby, and this results in Wide variations in the flow of the air to the flues, and lack of uniformity or laclr of proper supply of air to theburners to properly support combustion. llllhen the flame from any one burner is cut one tunnel with the stack to heat the incoming` Serial No. 669,258.

is varied to different degrees, that it is dif-V ficult to leep the burners in proper operation to maintain the desired variations of temperature at different `points in the fur* nace. Very often the furnace gets too het at the Working end, requiring the teaser to close the gas valve or valves of one or more front working burners, thus completely cut ting oli the flames at the Working end, but this does not stop the floiv of air passing through the associated checker chambers. ylhis results in the corresponding ychecker chambers i being `unduly cooled by the volume of relan tively cool air passing therethrough, so that the glass at the adjacent side of the furnace becomes hard, causing lines er cords, termedr chill cords. Jany variation, in fact, in the volume of gas supplied to and the amount of flame projected from any burner results not `only in the undue cooling lof checkers at the opposite side of the furnace, and chill ing of adjacent portions of 4glass in the melting chamber, but also in irregular' and spasmodic floiv of currents of air to the fines at the heating side, making it dil'licult and at times impossible to lreep the furnace at the proper Working temperature. The proper operation of furnaces of this kind, therefore, is to a large extent critical and in its conduct requires expert handling.

One object of my invention is to provide a novel construction of means for controlling communication between the furnace iues and the atmosphere and a stack, whereby the flow of air to the burners will be regulated, and whereby the air supply to a burner may be cut off or reduced without affecting the supply of air to another burner or burners.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction of .means for control-` linc communication ybetweena burner flue and the stach and the source of 4air supply, 'whereby individual control for each bu-rner flue is ensured, operation of the burners may be secured, and whereby chilling of the glass may be obviated and the noted objections to 'furnaces of ordinary construction overcome or reduced to the minimum. f

ll/Vith these land other objects in view, the

at the opposite side of the furnace whereby uniformity of' vertical transverse section through :i regenen tive furnace constructed in siceordence vvitpi my invention. .lo Figure f2 is n t p view of the suine.

Figure 3 is n :o 'ew of one of the vulve lan *fr `l ng und looking devices.

. .iigjnientery top plan vievv odiliefl torni e furnace.

is e veiaicel transverse section 01 a 'in lleterring now more particularly to the drm" f l designates the furnace body f i the glnss nieting chamber 2 in its ioiver po; -on the body of which is to he melted @ed et oil' the iurnfice is e series el indiregenerntor chen'ihers #L containing -cern 5 which may be the ordinary Y ren construction. Esch chuin s et its upper end through i e ilontel flue G With the adjacent nel `ing,` ohainber 2, and coinrvlue Z with e tunnel 8, any nuinher or' regenerate-is of this construction niey be provided et each side of the furnace5 the regeiiierntors et the opposite sides being,` placed opposite or in elineineit with eech other. 'llhe 'tunnels S connected With the respective reifen raitors entend rearwardly und :ire in connnunici'rtion it their reni' ends through e cross connection 9 with e steel; l0. ln nccordsnce with niy invention l de e with the usual` valve chamber valve provided et the cross connection 9 't and butterfly junction peint of the ivi h the steek l0. En accordance vfith my inventioin i also provide ineens rr seperetely end individuw u t7 `elly eonnee'ring earch l' and its eelzer chuinher with the atmosphere o: a. sourc or nir supply und with the stach. is

shovin the upper Well of t ie vided with en fr inlet openingl trolled by hinged vulve or demper l2, vwhich when in open position provides for ie passage or V nir 'through the associated nl and checlzers 5 to the Vlue (3. i vortii lly niovsble slidl'ig ll conprovided for controlling communication between the line Y nfld the tuiinel S, end this .rrni 'ed between the air inlet ll end the i nnel 8. A cord, chain c ynds to the re- Wound one r more tin es et its interinar portion around n pulley or sh ranged at n suitable elevation above the top of the nuo 2.7. The pulley l5 mounted on UL n sheft gourl .iled in Deering l? upon hase through aiv lower lhor' valve or den'iper lSis the enfl oi e usenet i8 secured to the outer l the checker chamber, end said side welA oi sh i't 16 provided with e handle i9 or vnle or demper eetuetinn' operation. l); turning thx lindie l) one direction the vulve l i ibe opened end the valve lo closed, and hy turning seid handle t opposite direction e reverse motion o? valves will scoured, that ify the volvo lo Wilibe opened end the valve l2 closed.

Arranged Within each line G is n burner 2O upon the endv of e branch pipe 21 connected with supply pipe 22. The supply pipe has portions disposerr et both sides of the lnri ece end connected with the burner pipes 2i for the supply et thereto, seid pipe being in connnunicution vit-h a. main ges supply pipe 23, end e vulve 2li being provided in eech burner pipe 2l for individually controllingl the loiv oi theretd Frein this it 1vill be seen that when the burners and regenerators et either side of the Yfurnace er set into notion 'ior supplying` flames to sweep across the :tun noce; the ernennt oi'l gais supplied to the burners at such side may be varied and the supply of ges to each burner governed es required to very the size of the Heine projected therel'roin, or to entirely cut such burner out of notion.

in order to nda-pt the velves l2 and 13 to be held locked in relatively open d closed positions, or such intermediate positions es may be desired7 l provide suitable lool-:ing inechenisin vvliieh may consist of e rachet Wheel on the shaft 1G adapted to be engaged hy' zi pziivl or dog 26 on bracket 1S.

*When the burners associated with one series oi regeneretors are set into action, the verve controlling devices Vi9 used in conjunction therewith are operetedto open the valves l2 and close the valves 13, while the valve operating devices used in conjunction with the opposite series orP regenerntors are manipulated to close the valves l2 and open the valves 123 thereof. Hence et the side of the furneee Where the burners nre in action, communication between the regene letors and the tunnel 8 will he eut oli by the valves i3 While the air inlets ll Will be opened for supliilying nir fo the burner lines While et the opposite side oi;I the furnece the nir inlet valves will be completely closed and vthe vnu/'es lS o )erred to :i low the products of een'ibustion to discharge through the regeneretors et suchside into the associated tunnel 8 and thence to the etinosphere through the steek l0. in reversing the fire the supply of gas to the burners o' the regenerators which have been employed as heaters is cut olif by closing the valves the dempers l2 of such regenerotors closed and the dampers l?) opened, while the gas supply valves of the regenerators at the opposite side `of the furnace are opened, the air valves at such side opened and the valves 13 at such side closed, thus placing the furnace in condition for the sweep of the flames in the opposite direction andthe discharge of the products of combustion through the regenerators previously employed as heaters.

lt will be understood from the foregoing that byproviding an air valve and stack valve for each regenerator ,chamber and cooperating burner flue, separate communication is established between the atmosphere and the stach and such flue' independent of any other flue or flues, and accordingly the burner of each burner flue when in operation will be supplied with a proper proportion of air uniformly and regularly fedv thereto. Also when any flue burner is in operation communication between the same and the stack will be pos vrtively cut off, preventing any undue variations or fluctuations in the `iiow of air thereto. Any burner also may be entirely cut out of action, without interfering with any of the other burners of the same series, and the air inlet l2 leading thereto may be closed, thus preventing the passage of cold air upwardly through the associated checkers 5 and across the furnace chamber to the checkers at the opposite side, thereby preventing cooling of the checkers and chilling of the glass in the furnace. rlhe quantity of gas supplied to each working burner may also be regulated, to govern the amount of area of the flame projected by the different burners of a series as required, without causing any irregularities in the supply of air to any burner due to the cutting out or variation of flow of gas to another burner or burners, as a result of which the teaser or attendant may control the burners at the working side of the furnace to vary the amount of heat supplied at any point within the ar a of the heating zone of the burners in a reliable and efficient manner to control the ten'iperature to best suit any working condition.

ln Figures l and of the drawings l have shown a modified form of my invention in which the construction is generally the same as that shown in Figures l to 3, inclusive, except that I dispense with the use of the side tunnels 8 and single stack l() common to all the regenerators and employ in lieu thereof a separate stack for each regenerator. This separate stack 28 communicates directly with the outer end of the `flue 7. rl`he operation with this construction will be readily understood.

Having thus fully described my invention, l claim l. ln a regenerative glass furnace, a melting chamber, a regenerator having an upper horizontal flue communicating at its inner end with the/meltingchamber, a vertical liuc communicating at its upper end with the outer end of `said upper horizontal flue, a lower horizontal flue communicating at its inner end' with the lower end of said vertical line, a checkerworlr barrier in the vertical flue, a passage for intake of air and discharge of products of 'combustion' communicating with the outer kend of the lower horizontal flue, the said lower horizontal flue having an upper horizontal wall portion lying between the vertical flue and passage and provided with an air inlet opening and a guide-way, a pivotally mounted, vertically movable, gravity closing valve for governing said opening, a vertically movable, gravity closing valve slidab'le in said guideway `and movable into and out of the lower horizontal flue for conn trolling` communication between the same and the said passage, a revoluble shaft supported above said horizontal wall portion of said ylower horizontal liuc, a pulley mounted on said shaft, a cable intermediately wound on said pulley and having the ends thereof respectively connected with the valves, and means on said shaft for turning the same in one direction or the other for opening either valve and simultaneously closing the other valve.

2. In a regenerative glass furnace, a melt ing chamber, a regenerator having an upper horizontal flue communicating at its inner end with the melting chamber, a vertical iiue communicating at its upper end with the outer end of said upper horizontal flue, a lower horizontal flue communicating at its inner end with the lower end of said vertical fine, a checkerworlr barrier in the vertical flue, a passage for intake of air and discharge of products of combustion communicating with the outer end of the lower horizonta liuc, the said lower horizontal flue having an upper horizontal wall portion lying between the vertical flue and passage and provided with an air inlet opening and a guideway, a pivotally mounted, vertically 'movable, gravity closing valve for governing said opening, a vertically movable, gravity closing valve slidable in said guideway and movable into and out of the lower horizontal iiue for controlling communication between the same and the passage, a revoluble shaft supported above said horizontal wall portion of said lower horizontal flue, a pulley mounted on said shaft, a cable intermediately wound on said pulley and having the ends thereof respectively connected with the valves, a handle for turning the shaft in one direction or the other for opening either valve and simultaneously closing` the othervalve, a locking member on said shaft, and a cooperating locking member engageable therewith for holding the shaft against rotation.

3. A glass melting furnace having a plurality of flame and exhaust fines at each side thereof, a burner in each flame and exhaust flue7 a plurality of regenerating cha1nbers at each side of the furnace, one for each flame and exhaust flue, and communicating at its top with such flue, a U-Shaped tunnel extending around the rear and sides of the furnace and communicating` at its rear with a stack, a horizontal flue leading from the hase oi each regenerating chamber to the adjacent eide of the tunnel7 each horizontal base flue having an upper Wall provided with an air intake openingi a valve controlling the air intake opening or" each horizontal hase line, a valve for eontrollingrand cutting` ott' communication between each horizontal hase flue and the side of the tunnel with which it. connects, a rook shaft above each horizontal hase flue, connections between each rock Shaftand the air-intake and ent-off valves or" the nnflerlying;` horizontal base 'flue for simultaneously opening the air-intake valve and closing` Jche controllingand eut-oli valve or vice versa through opposite motions of said shaft, and means applied to each rook 2 shaft for actuating the same.

4;. A glass melting furnace having a flame and exhaust tine at each side thereof, a burner associated with each flame and eX- haust flue, a regenerating chamber at each 3 side of the furnace, one for each flame and exhaust Ihre, a horizontal flue leadingfrom the hase of each regenerating Chamber and having an air intake opening, a Stack tunnel with which eaeh horizontal hase line Com- 3 munieates, a valve controlling; the air intake openin` of' eaeh horizontal hase flue7 a valve for controlling` and Cutting` ott communication between each horizontal base flue and the stack tunnel With which it Connects, and 4 means for opening' either valve and simultaneouely therewith eloeing the other valve of the pair of valves associated with each horizontal hase ilue.

In. testimony whereof I my signature.

f WILLIAM WTESTBURY. 

